Park Service Gives Volunteer Award to Fifes and Drums of York Town

Members of the Fifes and Drums of York Town with Mike Byrd of Colonial National Historical Park. Byrd presented the corps with the Hartzog Award at a recent rehearsal.

Members of the Fifes and Drums of York Town with Mike Byrd of Colonial National Historical Park. Byrd presented the corps with the Hartzog Award at a recent rehearsal. (Posted by jdevasher, Community Contributor)

Posted by jdevasher, Community Contributor

YORKTOWN, Va. - The Fifes and Drums of York Town has been named a 2017 park and regional winner of the National Park Service's George and Helen Hartzog Youth Group Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. The awards honor the efforts of exceptional volunteers, groups, and park programs and are named for the former National Park Service director and his wife. In 1970, the Volunteers-In-Parks Program began with 300 volunteers. Since then, more than 4.5 million people have donated more than 1.5 billion hours of service in national parks.The Fifes and Drums have contributed their share of those hours through regular performances and special events at the Yorktown Battlefield, which is part of Colonial National Historical Park. Mike Byrd, park volunteer coordinator, presented the award to the group at a recent rehearsal in Yorktown. Visitors love seeing the Fifes and Drums perform, he said, calling the corps an "iconic and integral part of telling the history of Yorktown.""I feel like you are our Air Force Thunderbirds," he added, specifically mentioning the Corps' assistance with special events for the National Park Service Centennial in 2016.The corps performs at the park weekly throughout the summer. A schedule is available at https://www.nps.gov/york/. Yorktown's hometown fife and drum corps was founded in observance of the nation's 1976 bicentennial. The volunteer-run corps continues its mission to preserve a historic art form and inspire an appreciation of American history. Membership in the corps is open to any young person, age 10-18, with an interest in history and music. No prior music or marching experience is required. For more information, visit http://www.fifes-and-drums.org/.